Court-Martial Trial Practice

United States v. Campbell, decided by the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals (9/17), presents a current look at United States v. Terlap and proper sentencing evidence. The Appellant “that the military judge admitted improper evidence in aggravation and testimony contradictory to the stipulation of fact.” During presentencing testimony, the military judge asked BI, “You…

Crowder’s next orders took him to Fort Yates, North Dakota, where the United States Army attempted to suppress the religious Ghost Dance movement. While stationed at Fort Yates, Crowder proved successful in his legal defense in three court-martial proceedings. His actions were noted by Army superiors and after being promoted to the rank of captain,…

https://www.court-martial.com/dubay-evidentiary-hearings-on-appeal.html

Whether or not a sentence is appropriate for the crime convicted of and the character of the person convicted is a frequent issue on appeal. Less frequently there is an issue of sentence disparity between co-actors or co-accuseds. The recent ACCA decision in United States v. Martinez (Sept. 2017), lays out the law fairly well…

Under Article 62, UCMJ, the prosecution can appeal a military judge’s trial ruling under six circumstances. The two most common are: (A) An order or ruling of the military judge which terminates the proceedings with respect to a charge or specification. For example, a military judge dismisses a specification because the specification fails to state…

The annual cost of detaining federal prisoners before trial and after sentencing is significantly higher than the cost of supervision in the community, according to figures compiled by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The annual cost of detaining federal prisoners before trial and after sentencing is significantly higher than the cost of supervision…

In British football, a player can commit a foul which is technical and the other team gets a free kick, and everyone keeps playing. More serious fouls can result in a yellow card (two in a game and you are off the field) or a red card which means immediate removal from the field. Well,…

The military already has rules and regulations about membership in certain hate groups. The tragic events at Charlottesville are likely to garner more attention to the issue of military personnel and hate groups. From Task & Purpose. James Alex Fields Jr., the 20-year-old Army basic training wash-out accused of running down counter-protesters demonstrating against hate…

As you know, Military Rule of Evidence 1102 provides that, Amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence – other than Articles III and V – will amend parallel provisions of the Military Rules of Evidence by operation of law 18 months after the effective date of such amendments, unless action to the contrary is taken…

There is increasing attention to the possibility that DNA “evidence” at the scene of an alleged crime is just too good and may implicate the innocent. Touch-trace DNA is the issue. Here is an interesting discussion that may help form an argument to exclude DNA evidence or address it with the fact-finder at trial. https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/Report%20of%20Experts_Amicus.pdf?token=AWwJbOe3GfcAd141qS0fe9wi_hIkb-iYJQOYz9rinOAWooLUMn3fHxAcWZ0dO0sQ5tYl7vszIq6Z0biiJVHnrs1IMdtbBauurKCPEqH8FiodtPHXSOSyk5hIsemNGOyTNP0pGu6tJuo_5BGaU3sctikEikVvn4enmtAJQFZJCU_1EKrbEC0Kt7pt35eQSa3SFZQ